A History of Birdwatching in 100 Objects

Despite being scientifically described by Linnaeus in 1758, it was Montagu who discovered his eponymous harrier species (above) breeding in Britain, resulting in its English name. His innovative dictionary included standard nomenclature for avian anatomy (top) and an alphabetical list of known species (above right).

As ornithological studies became more frequent among scientists and gentlemen, much knowledge began to accumulate in scientific papers, nature books and memoirs. The way was open for someone adept in these matters to compile and summarise what was known, as the 19th century got into its stride and publications of quality began to become the standard.

The first summary of ornithological knowledge about behaviour, anatomy, plumage and distribution was published by George Montagu, a legendarily meticulous aristocrat and a pedant whose work thus became somewhat more reliable than the more imaginative scholars of his day. This attention to detail enabled him, like Gilbert White just before him, to add new species to the British list. These of course included the eponymous harrier, more common in the 19th century than it is now, but also he was astute enough to recognise Roseate Tern and Cirl Bunting by their variably subtle respective differences from Common and Arctic Terns and Yellowhammer.

Montagu amassed information about birds by personal observation and, again like White, by correspondence with fellow specimen collectors; he could be viewed as one of the first listers, being very keen to obtain stuffed individuals of every possible British species.

His Ornithological Dictionary (1802) was published in two parts, often the case where books were funded by well-heeled subscribers, but he also added a supplement in 1813. Species were listed in alphabetical order, questions of identification were specifically addressed, and Montagu was able to point out that some birds considered different species were in fact mere alternative plumages of the same bird. For the first time the characters that placed birds in a single genus were itemised, and the dictionary was very much an erudite precursor to the works of later authors like Yarrell, Witherby and numerous other ornithologists, right up to Cramp and Perrins’ multi-volume The Handbook of the Birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (1977-94), still the regional standard in its recently discontinued DVD-ROM form known as BWPi (2006).